Collaboration looks for opportunities to expand the Organon biotech research programs and facilitate links with China’s biotech industry
Oss, The Netherlands and San Diego, USA – January 9, 2007 — Organon, the human healthcare business of Akzo Nobel (Nasdaq: AKZOY), announced today that it has signed a collaboration agreement with HUYA Bioscience International, LLC, (HUYA) to search for new, proprietary biopharmaceuticals or pharmaceutical compounds. As part of this collaboration, Organon has acquired an equity interest in HUYA, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing Chinese biopharmaceutical products.
HUYA, with offices in San Diego and Shanghai, identifies, licenses and develops Chinese drug candidates for commercialization in Western markets. Under the collaboration agreement, HUYA will support Organon in the sourcing and development of pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical compounds in three specific therapeutic areas.
“This is an important strategic opportunity for Organon. It is consistent with our research strategy to forge closer links with China’s highly skilled and motivated scientists and significantly expands our own ongoing biotech research programs and capabilities,” said David Nicholson, Executive Vice President Research and Development at Organon “We are very excited by this investment and the prospect of closely collaborating with HUYA.”
Mireille Gingras, President and Chief Executive Officer of HUYA added, “We are delighted to share the Organon knowledge and harness their extensive expertise in drug development in three specific therapeutic areas. We believe this collaboration is the first one between a biopharmaceutical and biotech company to jointly identify and develop investigational drugs in China. HUYA is highly experienced and uniquely well positioned with our large network of life science contacts and operating history in China to capitalize on the emerging biotech industry there.
“No financial details of the transaction were disclosed. The announcement follows other research collaborations that Organon has entered into with other leading Chinese biotech companies such as Shanghai Genomics and HD Biosciences in the last year.
About Organon
Organon – with shared head offices in Roseland, NJ, USA and Oss, The Netherlands – creates, manufactures and markets innovative prescription medicines that improve the health and quality of human life. Through a combination of independent growth and business partnerships, Organon strives to remain or become one of the leading biopharmaceutical companies in each of its core therapeutic fields: fertility, gynecology, anesthesia and neuroscience. Research areas also include immunology and oncology.
Organon products are sold in over 100 countries, of which more than 60 have an Organon subsidiary. Organon is the human health care business unit of Akzo Nobel.
About HUYA
HUYA, with offices in San Diego and Shanghai, capitalizes on the explosive growth of the biotechnology industry in China. HUYA identifies, licenses and develops promising Chinese pharmaceuticals for commercialization in Western markets. Using its management team and advisors, HUYA lowers the product development risk through the comprehensive sourcing of proprietary preclinical and early clinical stage pharmaceuticals from China. HUYA partners the development of such innovative investigational pharmaceuticals with biotech companies in China so that the initial clinical research is performed in China. Later clinical development is expected to be completed in the United States and Europe. Further information about the company is available at www.huyabio.com.
Organon Safe Harbor Statement*
This press release may contain statements which address such key issues as growth strategy, future financial results, market positions, product development, pharmaceutical products in the pipeline, and product approvals of Organon. Such statements should be carefully considered, and it should be understood that many factors could cause forecasted and actual results to differ from these statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, progress of drug development, clinical testing and regulatory approval, developments in raw material and personnel costs, pensions, physical and environmental risks, legal issues, and legislative, fiscal, and other regulatory measures. Stated competitive positions are based on management estimates supported by information provided by specialized external agencies. For a more comprehensive discussion of the risk factors affecting our business please see our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, a copy of which can be found on the Akzo Nobel corporate website www.akzonobel.com.
* Pursuant to the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act 1995.
Contact
HUYA Bioscience International, LLC
USA:
Mireille Gingras, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
HUYA Bioscience International, LLC
(858) 350-6265
mgingras@huyabio.com
www.huyabio.com
China:
Wen Chen, M.S., M.B.A.
Director Business Development
HUYA Bioscience International
wchen@huyabio.com
Organon
Monique Mols
Director Media Relations
NV Organon
+31-412-665440
monique.mols@organon.com
Media Contact:
Karen Sparks
(858) 455-5500
karen@mentus.com